Club Nacional

Club Nacional
Full name	Club Nacional
Nickname(s)	La Academia; Tricolor
Founded	June 5, 1904; 120 years ago
Ground	Estadio Arsenio Erico
Capacity	4,434
Chairman	Juan Carlos Galeano
Manager	Víctor Bernay
League	Primera División
2023	Primera División, 4th of 12
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico.

Internationally, the club is referred to as Nacional Asunción, in order to distinguish itself from Uruguay's Nacional and Colombia's Atlético Nacional.^[1]

History

The club was founded on June 5, 1904, by a group of alumni of the Colegio Nacional de la Capital, one of the oldest public schools in Asunción. The club was originally named Nacional Football Club, taking the name from "Club Nacional de Football" the Uruguayan club, whose shield and three colors were taken to associate the national origin. It is also referred as related to the school the founders attended. Its first president was Víctor Paredes Gómez and white was selected as the team color because that was the color of the Nacional de la Capital School uniform. For the emblem of the club, the colors of the Paraguayan flag were chosen.

Nacional is one of the traditional teams in the Paraguayan league and they have won a total of nine championships so far. Their nickname "La Academia" (lit. 'the academy') was given to them because of their excellent youth system that produced great players such as Arsenio Erico, who is considered as the best Paraguayan footballer of all time.

In 2009 Nacional won their first league title in 63 years.^[2]

In 2014, Club Nacional made history by reaching the Copa Libertadores final for the first time ever since its foundation, and by being only the second Paraguayan club to reach the final (after Olimpia).^[3]

The club began the campaign with a runner-up finish in the group stage. In the knockout stages, they defeated Argentine clubs Vélez Sarsfield and Arsenal de Sarandí. In the semi-finals, they beat Uruguayan club Defensor Sporting 2–1 on aggregate to set up a final with San Lorenzo.^[4] The first leg of the final was played in Asunción and ended 1-1. However, San Lorenzo won the second leg 1–0 at Estadio Pedro Bidegain and took the title with a 2-1 aggregate victory.^[5]

Youth

One of the club's youth teams played at the 2009 Torneo di Viareggio,^[6] the 2010 Torneo di Viareggio,^[6] the 2011 Torneo di Viareggio,^[6] the 2012 Torneo di Viareggio^[6] and the 2013 Torneo di Viareggio.^[7]

Honors

Primera División (9): 1909, 1911 (undefeated), 1924, 1926, 1942, 1946, 2009 Clausura, 2011 Apertura, 2013 Apertura
División Intermedia (3): 1979, 1989, 2003

Current squad

As of 24 January, 2024 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	PAR	Antony Silva
5	DF	ARG	Sergio Ojeda
6	MF	PAR	Juan Alfaro
7	MF	PAR	Edgardo Orzuza
8	MF	ARG	Facundo Velazco
11	FW	PAR	Gustavo Caballero
12	GK	PAR	Christian Riveros
13	DF	PAR	Leandro Meza
14	DF	PAR	Claudio Nuñez
15	FW	PAR	Francisco Morel
16	MF	PAR	Marcelo González
17	DF	ARG	Brian Blasi
18	FW	PAR	Lucas Gonzalez
20	DF	PAR	Juan González


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	PAR	Blas Cáceres
22	FW	PAR	José Nuñez
23	FW	PAR	Diego Duarte
24	MF	PAR	Jordan Santacruz
25	FW	PAR	Jesús Cáceres
26	DF	PAR	Eduardo Duarte
29	MF	PAR	Sebastián Vargas
30	GK	PAR	Lucas Galarza
31	FW	ARG	Nazareno Bazán
33	FW	PAR	Orlando Gaona
36	DF	PAR	Ismael Benegas
37	DF	PAR	Kevin Benítez
38	FW	PAR	Rodrigo Arévalo

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:

Been part of a national team at any time.
Played in the first division of any other football association (outside Paraguay).
Played in a continental and/or intercontinental competition.

2000's